Where do YOU buy yarn?

Where do you buy yarn? With all the rumors flying about Wal-Mart closing its Fabric/Crafts/Yarn Departments, many people are complaining that they will have no local source of yarn and other craft supplies.

I live in a large metropolitan area where we have quite a number of stores for buying yarn. In addition to the aforementioned Wal-Mart,

we have Hobby Lobby,

Michael’s,

Joann’s,

Hancock Fabrics (which carries some yarn),

and approximately ten other outlets that sell yarn suitable for crochet and knitting.

There are other stores that sell other kinds of yarns – those more suitable to needlepoint, embroidery, plastic canvas, etc. We have six shops that I think are quite good LYS (Local Yarn Shops). Everyone in the area has her (or his) favorite, but my favorites are Hearthstone Knits and The Weaving Department. Hearthstone actually caters to crocheters. The Weaving Dept and Chris’ Yarn shop are very crochet-friendly also. The remainder of the LYS really seem to prefer knitters as their customers, so they don’t tend to get much of my business. I have nothing against knitters or knitting. I just don’t like to be treated like a second class citizen, especially when I’m paying for the ‘privilege’.
So, WHERE do you buy yarn? I know many of you have only Wal-Mart as your local yarn source. Others don’t even have that, requiring them to rely on mail order sources only.

Please email me your response that most closely fits your situation. I will tally each response with each person’s first, second, and third choice. I’ll keep this ‘poll’ open for two weeks and then I’ll report my results to you in a future blog.

Wal-Mart here has the largest selection of Caron Simply Soft which I like for donating baby blankets…but it’s difficult for me to shop right now. I see your point, maybe we’re not supporting Wal-Mart’s needlework dept. as much as we think we are…but in the past, when I could really shop, I did purchase quite a few yarn and needle/hook supplies there.
-Abby

I don’t buy from Walmart since I don’t like the way they do business. But I live in a Metro area and can easily avoid them. Those in more rural area’s don’t have a choice. Just recently found out about to local yarn stores that I have yet to visit but plan to since I am a local business myself.

Say it isn’t so JD! I haven’t heard any of that but now that I have I’m in a fit! All we have in this town, 40,000 peeps none the less, are Michael’s and Wal-Mart. Wally world is definitely #1 for me, cheaper and same selection. Oh no! K

If I had the money to pay for shipping charges or enough money to buy a huge quantity and have no shipping charges, I would buy online. I used to shop at a huge chain store, but they kept changing their minds about how they were setting up the craft area (we have 5 of these stores in my area and if one remodels something, they all remodel the same thing). I got tired of it and gave up last year. Now I buy everything I want from JoAnn’s (they always have sales), sometimes shopping at Walmart (they don’t have a great selection), and then Michael’s (they are more expensive even with a sale, so I only go there if JoAnn’s runs out of what I need for a project). And I love going into the larger Dollar Tree stores in my area and finding fun fur (usually $3 or more each) for only $1!!! I haven’t used any of it yet, but I’ve got a little collection going.

Hi jd–I buy most of my yarn at Michaels. Then it’s Tall Mouse (a local chain store here in SoCal) and occasionally at JoAnn. Unfortunately my local Michael’s hasn’t had much of a selection lately and last time I was there, no crochet pattern books.

I have only bought mine at wal-mart so far. I have looked elsewhere but when looking for the 1lb balls or the 1000g balls in the winter I can only find them at wal-mart.
I live in Stoney Creek Ontario Canada, 3 blocks from wal-mart and the Bay another couple from zellers. I still prefer the current selection at wal-mart and don’t see why they must shave it down so badly when it is always busy everytime I go in there.

I live in the boonies and haven’t purchased any yarn lately as I have a moderate stash – some 20 years old from my mom, when I was a kid – some matches the afghan on my couch that she made at least b4 1978! LOL! Most of that is gone now thankfully. I did notice that Kmart had a small section of Bernat yarns and I would go there if necessary as they are the closest to me.

I buy most of my yarn online, Webs, Herschners, Mary Maxum & others. I buy some at JoAnn, Walmart & Dollar tree. My 2 LYS get the least of my purchases, though I do have fun visiting & petting yarn. Both are very crochet friendly. I find my local Michaels has a poor selection, mostly fru-fru yarns & have never purchased yarn from them..
Vicki in AZ.

I purchase yarn from LYS (Yarn Garden, Annapolis, MD)wwwdotalpacadirectdotcom; herrschners; ACMoore and Michaels. I am finding that ordering very carefully online gets me what I want for a better price.

WOW! Great participation in this poll. Thanks to all of you who have also posted comments as well as listed additional yarn buying locations. Can’t wait to see what the final tallies will bring. Thanks – and please keep checking back for results.
jd

Hi, You are so lucky.I live in India and the town where I live does not have any yarn shop.We just dont have the variety and the shops that you have in the USA.In the northen parts of India yarn is available in many shops.I buy my yarn at a shop in MUMBAI more than 100kms. away from where I stay.This shop is where you get all the art and craft things.I have been buying there since I was a little girl going with my mother.
Sandhya

So glad to have happened up on this site!!
I buy my yarn mostly at Michael’s because the selection is great. Wal-mart’s yarn has faded away to practically nothing in my area.
I’ve never tried on-line because of the shipping costs.

GLAD YOU FOUND US TOO, KATY.Â DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOUR TOWN, BUT THERE ARE OTHER YARN MASS MARKETERS.Â SMILEY’S IS A GREAT ONLINE SITE FOR RED HEART AND SIMILAR.

I am a big time crochet,knit,quilter kind of person. i love it all. however, i am so hurt that may,2009 wal.mart will no longer sell yarn or fabic for quilts. i live in a small town. wal-mart is all we have and i am so depressed.i mean this is world wide. i travel to many places and i always find a wal-mart .they too are getting rid of all crafts.you can help by calling 1-800-wal-mart and tell them how much we need them. thanks irene

hi !! I absolutely agree with Sandhya ,who also resides in Mumbai. Eventhough the city is huge, it still is hard to find different types of crochet yarn. Ironically, cotton knitting/crochet yarn is hardest to find!! I just make do with whatever i can lay my hands on. The colours one finds are so jarring!!